|
Comment on this article |
Email this Article
|
|
News :: Health |
|
Help sexual assault survivors access Emergency Contraception |
Current rating: 0 |
by Brooke Anderson
Email: brooke (nospam) shout.net (verified)
Phone: (217) 352-6533, ext. 17 |
05 Jan 2005
|
|
WE NEED YOUR IMMEDIATE HELP to ensure that sexual assault survivors have access to Emergency Contraception. Please read on for more information and TAKE ACTION TODAY! |
The U.S. Department of Justice has just released their first and only protocol on the treatment of sexual assault survivors in hospitals. The protocol is designed to be a step forward in providing more uniform and higher quality health care for sexual assault survivors in our nation's emergency rooms (some of whom live in states where only 6% of hospitals in their state give information about EC to sexual assault survivors). However, not once in its 141 pages does the protocol mention Emergency Contraception (EC), a highly effective pregnancy prevention option for sexual assault survivors.
Since EC is most effective the sooner it is taken, failure to provide EC to sexual assault survivors in the emergency room greatly increases their chance of becoming pregnant as a result of being raped. We cannot let the Department of Justice let politics trump the needs and basic health care rights of sexual assault survivors.
So far, 17 C-U organizations and dozens of national organizations have signed onto a letter to the Department of Justice asking them to include EC in the protocol. But they need to hear from individuals too! Let's overwhelm their inboxes and keep their phone lines ringing off the hook until they do the right things for sexual assault survivors!!
*** PLEASE EMAIL OR CALL THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TODAY ***
Please email or call the U.S. Department of Justice today to tell them to add comprehensive and detailed information about Emergency Contraception to their protocol for the treatment of sexual assault survivors.
Here is a sample message to the Dept. of Justice:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diane Stuart, Director of DOJ Office of Violence Against Women
Dear Ms. Stuart,
I am writing with concern that the national protocol for the treatment of sexual assault survivors, recently published by the DOJ's Office of Violence Against Women, does not include any information about Emergency Contraception (or EC).
Emergency Contraception is a special dose of ordinary birth control pills, that when taken up to 120 hours after unprotected sex, contraceptive failure, or sexual assault, can prevent unintended pregnancy.
The protocol should serve as a tremendous resource for providing more uniform, and higher quality, health care services to sexual assault survivors across the country. However, the exclusion of any information about Emergency Contraception is preposterous and a great disservice to the women whom you purport to serve.
I urge you to immediately amend the protocol to include comprehensive and detailed information about the right of survivors to be provided with Emergency Contraception in the emergency room.
Sincerely,
PUT YOUR NAME HERE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Email: diane.stuart (at) usdoj.gov
Phone: (202) 307-6026
Please bcc all emails to brooke (at) shout.net (or email us if you have made a phone call instead) so that we can keep track of how many people have called the Department of Justice.
Thank you for taking time to advocate for the rights of sexual assault survivors. For more information, contact Brooke Anderson at (217) 352-6533, ext. 17 or at brooke (at) shout.net. You can also visit the Campaign for Access to Emergency Contraception at http://www.healthcareconsumers.org/EC.
Sincerely,
Brooke Anderson
on behalf of the Campaign for Access to Emergency Contraception |
See also:
http://www.healthcareconsumers.org/EC
|
This work is in the public domain |
